Of successful outside groups...

12/12/12 6:43 PM EST

We've written on this space before about how Election Day was strong for a number of women candidates, a number of whom had support from EMILY's List, which backs Democratic women and was heavily involved in key races in 2012.

Officials with the group said they are training women candidates in places like New York, Virginia and Florida now and after the holidays as they look ahead to the next cycle.

The group raised $51.2 million, and grew its membership to 2 million, in its biggest independent expenditure effort, officials said, and claims credit for, among other things, the first all-female congressional delegation and a female governor in New Hampshire. It was the single biggest donor to Sen. Claire McCaskill's reelection, and to the three newly elected Democratic women senators, among them Sen. Elizabeth Warren. They had statewide successes and also helped elect 16 new women to the House for what the group says was its record on general election wins.

The figures are of note in that outside groups as a whole had a mixed record of success at best this cycle, and EMILY's List, which backs pro-choice women, emerged as one of the few with a strong "win" column. And women's issues were among the most dominant this cycle on the Democratic side in defining the race, including the Sandra Fluke controversy.

The group says it spoke to independent women voters in key states, some deep blue like Massachusetts but others red like Missouri and battlegrounds like Wisconsin, Iowa and Nevada, and found that persuasion efforts were effective in terms of framing the opposition on policies.

According to EMILY's List officials, they were able to track their efforts by polling how many people they polled were aware of things like the fight to defund Planned Parenthood and other issues that were key for President Obama and Democrats downballot.

The months-long messaging — augmented by Democrats at all levels and by Planned Parenthood, among other groups — was difficult for Republicans to overcome, especially after a string of controversies (comments by Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock among them).

They were by no means alone, and they had help given the self-inflicted wounds by some of their opponents. But as outside groups get a vetting in the coming weeks, they are among the few who will have victories to point to as a road map for the next cycle.